By Syria’s Interior Ministry said Saturday that five people were arrested over a plot to attack an unidentified religious figure in Damascus, alleging the cell was linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster and reports in Syria and Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...named the figure as Rabbi Michael Khoury.
In a statement, the ministry said security forces observed a woman as she attempted to "plant an bomb in front of the house of a religious figure" near a church in Damascus’s Bab Touma area.
Security forces intervened and dismantled the device, arresting all five members of the cell, the statement said.
"Preliminary investigations revealed the cell’s link to Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
’s Hezbollah, and that its members received specialized military training abroad," including in handling explosives, the statement added.
The ministry added that investigations were still ongoing.
Kan cited an unnamed source within Syria’s leadership as saying the act attests to how Damascus is protecting the Jewish community, adding that Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
and Hezbollah are trying to undermine stability in Syria, including by encouraging pro-Paleostinian protests.
Al-Arabiya TV, citing an official Syrian source: Hezbollah intended to target Rabbi Michael Khoury in Damascus pic.twitter.com/2tqpWMfVaj
— Ph.Gritti (@Philipp27960841) April 11, 2026
There have been several plots to kill rabbis in the Middle East in recent years, most notably the kidnapping and killing of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. Kogan, a 28-year-old UAE-based rabbi with Israeli and Moldovan citizenship, went missing in Dubai, and his body was found a few days later in the Emirati city of Al Ain, which borders Oman. The UAE sentenced three suspects to death over the murder — Olimpi Toirovich, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim and Azizbek Kamlovich — all of them Uzbek nationals who were arrested in
...a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
member, but not the most reliable...
Additionally, an Iranian plot to kill Azerbaijani Rabbi Shneor Segal was foiled by Baku in January 2025. According to reports, Iran recruited a Georgian narco to kill Segal and attack a Jewish education center. The Georgian national and his Azerbaijani accomplice were arrested and charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
Related:
Zvi Kogan 04/06/2025 Iran enlisted drug trafficker in failed plot to kill Azerbaijan rabbi — report
Zvi Kogan 03/31/2025 UAE reportedly sentences 3 Uzbek nationals to death over killing of Chabad rabbi
Zvi Kogan 01/15/2025 Israel uncovers Iranian plot to lure businessman to Dubai under pretext of interview
Zvi Kogan 04/06/2025 Iran enlisted drug trafficker in failed plot to kill Azerbaijan rabbi — report
Zvi Kogan 03/31/2025 UAE reportedly sentences 3 Uzbek nationals to death over killing of Chabad rabbi
Zvi Kogan 01/15/2025 Israel uncovers Iranian plot to lure businessman to Dubai under pretext of interview